Mark Frazier

Mark Frazier is chair of the advisory board of the Startup Societies Foundation and president of Openworld, a nonprofit focused on using land value appreciation to fund public goods. Over the past four decades, he has worked in more than 50 countries on free zones, policy reforms, and technology-enabled development, supporting projects in places such as Uruguay, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Israel, Bulgaria, and Mauritius.

He has advised institutions including the World Bank, USAID, and OPIC on competitiveness, workforce strategies, and business climate reforms, with a particular emphasis on ensuring that residents benefit from rising land values. He is coauthor of Founding Startup Societies: A Step-by-Step Guide and has advanced initiatives in enterprise zones, land trusts, and community-driven growth.

Frazier is also the founder and CEO of Openworld Villages, a platform that develops sustainable communities through micro-scholarships, online work-study, and land trusts. He has been a member of the Xprize Vanguard and has advised initiatives such as the ICT Cluster. Earlier in his career, he served as a principal researcher for U.S. federal agencies, worked as editor at Reason magazine, and cofounded the Local Government Center.

His writings on privatization, education reform, and global telework have appeared in Policy Review, Reason, Reader’s Digest, and the Journal of Economic Affairs. A Harvard graduate and former Lehman Institute fellow, he continues to explore solutions for inclusive development while pursuing personal interests such as kayaking, flying, design, and gardening.